05/15/2026
Three days ago, first time Momma Six gave birth to a beautiful black and white heifer calf. Tragically, her calf passed yesterday due to an accident. The day before, Momma Opal had given birth to twins. A grey and white bull and a solid black heifer.
While a cow can raise twins ok, calves thrive better when their mother is only feeding and looking after one calf. We found ourselves in a situation: Momma Six was now without a calf and Momma Opal had a spare.
We decided to try something we haven't done before. We heard it can work, especially in the right window of time, which we were well within. We skinned the deceased calf and tied the hide to one of the twins. Then introduced that calf to Momma Six. We rolled the dice.
She sniffed it all over, then let the calf nurse yesterday. She did her mommy moos at it. This morning she seems to still let the calf nurse even though the hide has fallen off. We are hopeful this pair fully bonds. Momma Six will have a calf to raise and love on, Momma Opal can focus her attention and nutrition on one calf only, and this gamble on motherly instinct may just quietly pay out.
